Political_party_strength_in_Maine

Political party strength in Maine

Political party strength in Maine

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The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Maine:

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

For years in which a presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

History

The Republican Party controlled the governorship from the American Civil War to 1932, with the Democratic Party only winning four times. The Greenback Party was active in Maine and its gubernatorial candidates had their vote totals rise from 520 votes in the 1876 election to 41,371 votes in the 1878 election. The Greenbacks aided in the election of Democratic gubernatorial nominees Alonzo Garcelon and Harris M. Plaisted. The Democratic Party did not control the state legislature between 1847 and 1911.[1]

The Maine Republican Party supported Theodore Roosevelt during the 1912 Republican presidential primaries against President William Howard Taft. The Maine Progressive Party was founded by Roosevelt supporters on July 31, 1912, at a convention in Portland, Maine. The Republicans were weakened after losing members including Charles H. Hitchborn, who was the treasurer of the party, although Warren C. Philbrook, the chair of the party, remained. Woodrow Wilson won Maine in the presidential election while Roosevelt received more votes than Taft.[1]

On April 5, 1916, the Progressives held their convention and nominated Edwin Lawrence for governor under the coniditon that they would follow the path of the national party. The national Progressive Party attempted to nominate Roosevelt for president against, but he declined and the party returned to the Republicans. The Maine Progressives withdrew their candidates and supported the Republicans. B. F. Lawrence, who ran for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives, was the only Progressive elected in 1916, but later joined the Republicans.[1]

Robert M. La Follette, who ran as the Progressive presidential nominee in the 1924 election, told Gilbert E. Roe, who was running his campaign in the eastern United States, that the conditions for his campaigns were good in the eastern United States except for in Maine and Vermont. Republican nominee Calvin Coolidge received over 70% of the popular vote while La Follette only received six percent.[1]

Table

More information Year, Governor ...
Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials
Alaskan Independence (AKIP)
American (Know Nothing) (KN)
American Labor (AL)
Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J)
National Republican (NR)
Anti-Administration (AA)
Anti-Masonic (Anti-M)
Conservative (Con)
Democratic (D)
Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL)
Dixiecrat (Dix),
States' Rights (SR)
Democratic-Republican (DR)
Farmer–Labor (FL)
Federalist (F)
Pro-Administration (PA)
Free Soil (FS)
Fusion (Fus)
Greenback (GB)
Independence (IPM)
Independent Democrat (ID)
Independent Republican (IR)
Jacksonian (J)
Liberal (Lib)
Libertarian (L)
National Union (NU)
Nonpartisan League (NPL)
Democratic–Nonpartisan
League (D-NPL)
Nullifier (N)
Opposition Northern (O)
Opposition Southern (O)
Populist (Pop)
Progressive (Prog)
Prohibition (Proh)
Readjuster (Rea)
Republican (R)
Silver (Sv)
Silver Republican (SvR)
Socialist (Soc)
Unionist (U)
Unconditional Unionist (UU)
Vermont Progressive (VP)
Whig (W)
Independent (I)
Nonpartisan (NP)
  1. Resigned to take appointment as a minister to negotiate a treaty with Spain.
  2. Elected at-large on a general ticket.
  3. As president of the state Senate, filled unexpired term.
  4. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States House of Representatives.
  5. As speaker of the state House, filled unexpired term.
  6. Resigned.
  7. Died in office.
  8. As president of the state Senate, filled unexpired term until his Senate term expired.
  9. A Democrat, Nathan Clifford, was elected as Speaker.
  10. A Democrat, Hannibal Hamlin, was elected as Speaker.
  11. Won a close election, but Democrats challenged the election. He was finally declared the winner by the state Supreme Court and sworn in on January 19, 1838.
  12. A Whig, Josiah S. Little, was elected as Speaker.
  13. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
  14. A Democrat, David Dunn, was elected as Speaker.
  15. Resigned to take an elected seat as Governor.
  16. Due to a constitutional change in when elected officials took office, legislators elected in 1850 had a two-year term.
  17. A coalition of Whigs, Free Soilers, and Morrill Democrats elected Noah Smith Jr., a Whig, as Speaker, and organized the chamber.
  18. A coalition of Republicans and Whigs elected Sidney Perham, a Republican, as Speaker, and organized the chamber.
  19. A Democrat, Josiah S. Little, was elected as a minority-party Speaker.
  20. Resigned to become Vice President of the United States.
  21. A Democrat, Charles A. Spofford, was elected as a minority-party Speaker.
  22. A coalition of Democrats, Greenbacks, and Independents supported Melvin P. Frank, a Democrat, as Speaker and organized the House.[2]
  23. As president of the senate, filled unexpired term, and was later elected in his own right.
  24. A power-sharing agreement was negotiated between the Democrats and Republicans, with a Democrat, Mike Michaud, becoming Senate President for one year in 2001, and a Republican, Richard A. Bennett, becoming Senate President for one year in 2002.
  25. As Senator, King has consistently caucused with the Senate Democratic Caucus.
  26. The Democratic ticket received Maine's two at-large votes and one vote in the First Congressional District while the Republican ticket received one vote in the Second District.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    King, Elizabeth (1933). The Progressive Movement of 1912 and Third Party Movement of 1924 in Maine. University of Maine Press.
  2. [2]
    Representatives, Maine Legislature House of (1879). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Maine. p. 9.
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